Target: Vladimir Putin. “We are ready to kill him. Our priority task is to destroy the unit commander who gives his men the order to attack,” said the deputy head of theintelligence Vadim Skibitsky, in an interview with the German newspaper Die Welt. Also on the same list is the founder and leader of the Wagner group, Yevgeny Prigozhin. Threats that confirm how “the special military operation is more than justified, more than necessary”, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who assured that “the Russian security services know their job and know what they are doing”. Then came the clarification from the Main Directorate of theintelligence of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry: «We can make extraordinary efforts to physically eliminate a person like Putin», «but the need to detain him and his accomplices as war criminals and bring him before an international tribunal is, of course, a matter of just punishment that will be enforced.”
Black Sea, Russian warship hits sea drones attempting an attack
So Putin is “target number one”, but “in terms of detention and delivery to the International Court of Justice and the Hague Tribunal”. Certainly the president’s safety remains a priority in Moscow, in light of the threats from Kiev and the drone attack against the Kremlin earlier this month. An attack behind which for theintelligence American, according to the New York Times, special units or the 007 Ukrainians would be hidden. Prigozhin, commenting on the Ukrainian threats, defined the choice “to eliminate me and Putin” as “understandable”.
Wagner, on the other hand, considers himself an integral part of the invasion of Ukraine, having played a leading role in what Moscow considers the “liberation” of Bakhmut, a city in Donetsk that has become one of the main fronts of the war. And from which, Prigozhin announced, the paramilitaries have begun to withdraw “the units”.
It was precisely on the battles for the conquest of the city that a tough distance confrontation took place between Prigozhin himself and the Russian Defense. The Wagner leader remains critical of Moscow; if Russian casualties in Ukraine continue to mount, he warned, “all of this can lead to a revolution, just like in 1917,” because “first the soldiers will rise, and then their loved ones will rise.”
Prigozhin announces the withdrawal of the Wagner Group from Bakhmut
Meanwhile, Moscow has signed an agreement with Minsk, its main ally, for the transfer of non-strategic nuclear weapons to Belarusian territory. “The transfer has already started,” stressed President Alexander Lukashenko. Kiev, on the other hand, awaits the announced supply of F-16 fighters by the Western allies. “We hope that training will begin in the coming weeks,” said US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. And while the authorities of the Russian region of Belgorod make it known that they have shot down another drone on their territory, the diplomatic battle for a solution to the crisis remains complex. After visiting Kiev, Chinese special representative for Eurasian affairs Li Hui is ready to arrive in Moscow, where he will meet with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
To know more
Analysis – If Wagner’s butcher becomes the “comfortable opponent”
Interview – Russia, “We partisans for freedom: it’s just the beginning, we will overthrow the regime”
The case – Vladimir Putin in the crosshairs. The 007 Ukrainians: “We are getting closer and closer, he uses doubles to mislead us. Now he fears he will be killed by his own people”
What happened yesterday, May 25th
- 07:04
Explosions in Krasnodar, a city in southern Russia
- 00:03
Moscow: Ukrainian missile shot down in the Rostov region
07:04
Explosions in Krasnodar, a city in southern Russia
Explosions occurred this morning in the center of the Russian city of Krasnodar, located in the south of the country. This was reported by The Kiev Independent. The city’s air defenses went into action after the downtown was attacked by drones. Explosions already occurred at the Ilsky oil refinery in Russia’s Krasnodar Oblast on May 5, also allegedly caused by a drone strike. The day before, a similar incident had been reported in the area. There have been a growing number of reports of attacks inside Russian territory in recent weeks, notably including a cross-border incursion into Russia’s Belgorod oblast by two groups of Russian militants claiming to be fighting from part of Ukraine. In early May, Russia was rocked by a series of attacks and sabotage, including the derailment of two freight trains and the burning of an oil depot caused by a drone strike. On Monday, two armed groups claiming to be Russian attacked Russia’s Belgorod region from Ukraine, the most serious incursion since the beginning of the war.
00:16
‘Denmark and Netherlands lead F-16 training for Ukrainians’
Minister, ‘to decide whether we will also donate jets to Kiev’
STOCKHOLM. Denmark and the Netherlands will lead the Ukrainian Air Force’s military training program in the use of F-16 fighter-bombers. This was stated by Danish interim defense minister Troels Lund Poulsen. «The first step is to identify the countries willing to participate in the training mission, and we are doing it now. Denmark is ready to play a central role together with the Netherlands», declared the Danish minister, reported by the Ritzau agency. “It is agreed that this represents an important long-term strategic step. Whether this will mean that Denmark will also donate F-16s to Ukraine is still being clarified,” concluded Poulsen. In neighboring Sweden, a small group of Ukrainian Air Force pilots will have the opportunity to test the Swedish Gripen fighter-bomber, according to reports from the TT agency, which also reported statements by Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonson: «The planes that Sweden has are needed for our national defense and at the moment there is no intention to lend planes to Ukraine,” Jonson told Swedish TV channel TV4.
00:03
Moscow: Ukrainian missile shot down in the Rostov region
«The Russian air defense system went into action near Morozovsk», in the Rostov region of Russia, «shooting down a Ukrainian missile. The soldiers are doing their job.” The governor of the southern region of Russia, Vasily Golubev, quoted by Tass claims it on Telegram, urging the population to remain calm. The Rostov Region borders the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics in Donbass.
